Chromaticity of unique white in illumination mode

Opt Express. 2015 May 18;23(10):12488-95. doi: 10.1364/OE.23.012488.

Abstract

The chromaticity of unique white viewed in illumination mode and under dark adapted conditions was investigated for 3 luminance levels (200, 1000 and 2000 cd/m2) using a unique white setting method. Unique white was found to encompass a rather large region in color space located slightly below the blackbody locus and centered around a CCT of 6600 K. Luminance level was found to have no significant effect on the mean unique white chromaticity. The high and low end points of the CIE class A and B white regions respectively under- and overestimate the chromaticity region perceived as white. Agreement along the Duv direction was quite good. However, another Duv related limit associated with white lighting (|Duv|≤5.4e-3) was found to be on the small side, especially for chromaticity values below the blackbody locus. The results for unique white viewed in illumination mode were compared to those reported for object mode presentation. Overall they were very comparable, although a statistical analysis does show a (just) significant effect of stimulus presentation mode for high (il)luminance levels. However, no such effect could be established at the individual observer level. Therefore, it was concluded that unique white chromaticity is essentially the same for both illumination and object mode stimulus presentation, at least under dark adapted viewing conditions.